Unicast Polling Mode

When an SNTP client is operating in unicast mode, SNTP update requests are made directly to a server, configured using the set sntp server command. The client queries these configured SNTP servers at a fixed poll-interval configured using the set sntp poll-interval command. The order in which servers are queried is based on a precedence value optionally specified when you configure the server. The lower the configured precedence value, the higher the precedence for that server. The default is for all servers to have the same precedence. In this case, the server ordering is based upon the indexing of the server table.

The SNTP client makes a request to the SNTP server. The client waits a period of time configured using the set sntp poll-timeout command for a response from the server. If the poll timeout timer expires, the client will resend another request, up to the number of retries specified by the set sntp poll-retry command. If the retries have been exhausted, the client request is sent to the next server with the lowest configured precedence value or the next server in the server table, if precedence values are the same. If no server responds, the client waits the configured poll-interval time period and the process starts over again.